Short-Eared Owl II

I was very gratified by my success in photographing the Short-eared owl yesterday BUT after getting some of my morning behind me I had a little time before meeting friends for lunch. I decided to drive back out to the same area where I photographed the Short-eared owl yesterday to see if it might still be around. The weather was clearing and I found as I left the island that the day was bright and at times the sun was even shining. When I reached the area where I had seen the owl the prior afternoon I slowed and started watching the fence posts along the road. I was almost startled when I noticed a shape on top of almost the same fence post as my sighting the prior day! Sure enough, it was my friend... and in considerably better lighting conditions than the previous day.

The owl seemed to want to ignore me and I was afraid for awhile that it wasn't going to turn to look at me, but it finally gave me a couple of glances before heading down the ditch and then out across the fields in search of prey.
So here are today's photos which are considerably better than those I took and posted to my blog (joehalt.blogspot.com) yesterday.
 
 

 

Short-Eared Owl

I was having a ‘good knee day’ today (12/21/2009) and drove over to Edison to take a friend to lunch. On the way home I was driving down the Bayview-Edison Road, talking on my cell phone, when I caught a glimpse of what was obviously a raptor, and probably an owl, sitting on one of the fence posts on the side of the road. I turned around and retraced my route looking for what I had seen. I couldn’t find it and decided it had flown, but when I turned around to continue my journey I found the owl. I was able to stop my vehicle and take several one-handed photos (I was still on the phone!) before it flew to another fence post just a little further along. I repeated the process at about three fence posts before continuing my journey.


This experience was a nice welcome back to the birding world that I’ve had to mostly forgo for the past several weeks. I’ve birded this area for over eight years and seen many Short-eared owls flying, a few sitting on posts but at some distance but this is my closest encounter ever. It’s a nice ‘welcome back’ to the world of nature!

Accipiter!

 I returned home on Sat, 11/14 and upon pulling into the driveway I immediately noticed an accipiter sitting at the top of the pine tree in the front yard.  I have found these bird wary in he past but in this case the bird let me go through the front door.  Upon entering the house I immediately raced upstairs to my office where i retrieved my camera.  The next step was to get out on my office deck so I had an unobstructed view of the bird. 

I managed to creep out on the deck and I immediately began taking photos.  After a few minutes the accipiter flew down to our brush pile where it proceeded to hop back and forth trying to flush something from inside the brush pile.  After spending a couple of minutes in that location it flew to just behind where I currently have my photo observation chair located and perched on a branch for another couple of minutes.  It then flew back into the foliage where I was unable to visually follow it.  I wasn't sure it was gone from the yard but within just a couple of minutes birds started returning to open environs and I decided it had left. 

I believe this bird would be classified as a sub-adult but I'm uncertain as to whether it is a Cooper's hawk or a Sharp-shinned hawk.  If I had to hazard a guess I would guess the former.  Comments on the species are welcome!   

Leucistic Black-capped Chickadee

  

Being not more than a month away from a total knee replacement I don't run much any more, but late this morning I moved faster than I have in a couple of years.  I was at the computer during halftime in the UT/OK football game when I glanced out my office window and saw a flash of white.  It was too much white.  I grabbed my binoculars and began scanning a small Madrone tree in the yard.  I finally found the source of the white.  It was the leucistic Black-capped chickadee that some of our neighbors had been seeing in their yard over the past week or so. 

I raced out of my office, down the stairs and out the front door with my camera.  Unfortunately we are having an absolutely miserable day for photographic operations... a combination of fog, drizzle and outright rain with a heavy overcast.  Fortunately it wasn't raining at the time and I followed the bird through at least three trees, trying to shoot pictures the entire time.  The bird finally went over the roof and back into the front yard (fourth and fifth trees on its journey) with me trying to shoot pictures the entire time.  I took about 20 photos but none of them turned out well, but at least I was able to obtain enough so that you can get an idea of the bird's coloration. 

Success with the Accipiter!

This afternoon (9/25) I was across the street visiting with my neighbors when one of the accipiters (see prior post) flew over their house and straight into the middle of our yard.  It appeared to go for the ground but I didn't see it after that. 

About an hour or so later I was in my office and some movement from a dark area of foliage caught my attention.  I focused my binoculars on the area and there was the accipiter, sitting on a limb only a couple of feet off the ground and looking all around.  I thought my camera was downstairs but realized it was at my feet (I was processing photos) so I grabbed it and headed for the door. 

I was able to slip out the door onto my deck so that I had a very good view of the bird, but it was in deep shadows and the sun was by then at a low angle.  I shot 30 photos as it left that limb, flew to our brushpile, then back to the ground.  When they search for birds I've noticed they sometimes do it from the ground.  It walked around awhile and finally flew back to the neighbors across the street. 

From the photos I would guess it's a young Cooper's hawk, but I'm not an expert at such things.  I figured that with all the trips the accipiter(s) have been making to the yard it was just a matter of time before I was able to photograph one... now I just need photos in better lighting conditions!